First-Level Systematic Echocardiographic Evaluation in a COVID-19 Lombardy Hospital

Abstract

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic. Although cardiovascular (CV) morbidity has been associated to the clinical course of the disease, systematic data regarding CV implications during COVID19 are still lacking. The aim of this study is to report the echocardiographic features of COVID19 patients undergoing first-level echocardiographic screening in a COVID Hospital in Lombardy. In this retrospective study, 70 consecutive patients admitted to our Hospital with confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis, underwent a first-level echocardiographic screening. Of the 70 patients, 8 (11.4%) patients died; survivors had lower sPAP levels as compared to deceased subjects (25.4±9.4 vs 34.8±5.9 mmHg, p=0.008) and splitting the patients in four quartiles based on sPAP, mortality rate was significantly higher among patients with more elevated sPAP compared to the other groups (Q4 29.4% vs Q3 12.5% vs Q2 6.25% vs Q1 0%, p=0.026). A first-level echocardiographic screening might be helpful in the management of Covid-19 patients by identifying those at higher risk of fatal outcome.